


Oh Dear Brother

by Smalls2233



Series: Redemption and Ruin [6]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Demon Hanzo Shimada, M/M, forced shifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 09:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12078198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smalls2233/pseuds/Smalls2233
Summary: With Hanzo assigned to be a man on the inside of Talon for Overwatch, Genji has concerns. Not only about his history with Akande Ogunmidu, but also with truths about Hanzo that Genji had been content to leave untouched until now.





	Oh Dear Brother

“You know,” Genji started as he leaned against the wall next to where Hanzo was preparing his bow. “You don't have to look like you’re being sent off to prison.”

Hanzo looked at Genji quizzically, “How do you mean?”

“Brother, you’re scowling,” Genji tapped Hanzo’s shoulder with two fingers. “Tenser than your bowstring as well.”

“I’m fine, Genji,” Hanzo scowled before sighing and admitting, “I am nervous, though.”

“I’d be worried if you weren't,” Genji laughed. “Talon is dangerous, Hanzo. Especially for…” Genji’s voice trailed off. 

“Genji?” Hanzo asked. “Especially for what?”

“Nevermind, brother,” Genji waved him off. “It’s nothing. You’re in safe hands with Commander Reyes.”

“He’s no commander anymore,” Hanzo grunted, “And I suppose I’ll be safe with him.”

“You suppose?” Genji removed his faceplate in order to let Hanzo see the incredulous look on his face. He ignored the way Hanzo flinched when he saw the scarring on Genji’s face, the carbon fiber that made up his lower jaw. “Hanzo, Commander Reyes is one of the reasons I am still here today.”

“You hated him.”

“I hated what I thought he did,” Genji said as he turned his faceplate around in his hands. “But we all were wrong, Hanzo. Commander Reyes had given everything to make things right, even his humanity.” Genji gave Hanzo a knowing look, “A story that might sound familiar to you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hanzo grit his teeth. “I don’t trust Gabriel Reyes.”

Genji snorted, “Is that because of one Commander Jesse McCree?”

Hanzo’s scowl deepened, “Of course not,” he snapped.

Genji rolled his eyes, “Brother, I know you well enough to see these things.”

“There is nothing between me and Jesse McCree.”

“Oh, no I knew that,” Genji laughed. “But I’m not blind to the way you look at him.”

“So what?” Hanzo hissed out a breath through his nose. “Nothing will happen between us, I know that.”

“So you throw your frustrations onto Commander Reyes,” Genji said.

“I don't throw anything onto him,” Hanzo rolled his eyes. “I dislike him because I dislike his attitude, completely unconnected to any feelings I may or may not have for Jesse McCree.”

Genji pursed his lips, “And what about jealousy?”

Hanzo glared daggers at Genji, “Careful where you tread, brother.”

“Do they know of your history with Akande Ogundimu?” Genji ignored Hanzo’s glare. He was too familiar with Hanzo’s moods to be intimidated by his nasty looks.

“What history?” Hanzo barked out a laugh. “Our marriage was arranged. I hardly knew him before I left.”

“You loved him,” Genji said as if he were stating a fact.

“Whether I loved him or not is unimportant,” Hanzo said, jaw tight as he went back to cleaning his bow. 

“Hanzo, I wish you'd talk to me,” Genji sighed as he stood up straight from his leaning position. 

Hanzo closed his eyes and threw his head back against the wall. Genji could see the war going on behind his closed eyes, evident in his tensed shoulders as clenched jaw. When Hanzo exhaled, it was like he was letting the air out of a balloon as he slid down the wall onto the floor. 

“It’s… It’s hard for me, Genji,” Hanzo said softly as Genji knelt beside him. “My entire life, I’ve been told to suppress my feelings, to do what was right for the family. I married a stranger. I murdered my brother.” Hanzo’s voice wavered as he continued on, “I’ve done everything I was told to do, yet here I am. I’m unhappy, I’m alone. I resent Reyes for what he has, not only does he have a partner he is happy with; a relationship he is happy with, but in a support structure.”

“You are not alone, Hanzo,” Genji said, his voice was barely above a whisper as he stared at Hanzo. “You’ve never been alone.”

“Have I?” Hanzo’s laugh was brittle. “For the past decade I’ve walked alone. No brother. No husband. Nobody to mentor me.”

Genji rested a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder, “But now you have your brother back, you have Overwatch, you’ll see your husband again.”

“My husband who will want to--” Hanzo cut himself off with a quickly clamped jaw.

“Who will want to control you for who you are, what you are,” Genji finished for him.

“How-- what?” Hanzo’s eyes were wide in shock as he stared at Genji. 

“Did you think I wouldn't notice, Hanzo?” Genji asked softly. “That I wouldn't see your eyes and see the fire within them?”

“You weren't supposed to know, I was supposed to protect you from this world,” Hanzo’s voice was a whisper while Genji squeezed his shoulder. 

“I’ve known of supernaturals almost as long as you have, brother,” Genji said as he thought back to the day when he had learned of the world unknown to most men.

_ Genji had been barely ten years old. He had been preparing for bed, long hair flowing free and dressed in a simple nightgown, when voices were loud outside his door.  _

_ Genji paused the music he had been listening to, curious as to what could be going on so late at night near his and Hanzo’s rooms. He had noticed for the past several months, ever since Hanzo had turned thirteen, that Hanzo had been spending more time away in lessons that he had been unable to speak of. Genji wondered if the voices were connected to that. _

_ Genji quietly slunk closer to his door to hear better as he tied his hair back into a bun.  _

_ He frowned as he listened to the men and women outside his door talk. It was all in English for some reason. He was learning English, his father had made it clear that it was best for the Shimada family if Genji had a baseline of knowledge in most major languages, but his language skills had mainly been in Korean and Chinese, as they were the ones he would deal with mostly. _

_ “Are you sure you can control the wolf?” A woman asked outside the door and Genji wasn't sure he heard her right. Why would they be bringing a wolf to Hanamura? _

_ “He’s chained and collared,” another woman, American by the sound of her voice, answered. “We’ve never had a problem with him before.” _

_ “For the young master’s sake, I hope that tonight isn't the night you have your first problem,” the original woman said flatly. Genji tried to place her voice, to see if she was in the Shimada family, but it was hard with her speaking in English.  _

_ “Will he be shifted already, or will I get to see it?” Hanzo asked, a voice Genji could place in any language. Genji silently wished that they had been speaking Japanese. He could barely understand what they were speaking about. What did shifting have to do with wolves? _

_ Genji couldn't hear the response of the American woman over the sound of footsteps that gradually grew more distant.  _

_ When the footsteps grew distant enough, Genji made up his mind to follow them. His curiosity was piqued and he knew that if he asked Hanzo, he’d just be brushed off with a non answer. If he was caught, he could just brush it off as wanting to make sure his older brother was safe. _

_ If there was one thing Genji Shimada was good at, it was sneaking around Hanamura. He knew every creaky floorboard and every hidey hole. So Genji quickly and silently caught up to the crowd. He stayed back far enough to not be seen and analyzed the people around Hanzo. _

_ Most of them were high ranking members of the Shimada family. But there were a large amount of foreigners mixed within them. Genji was unfamiliar with all of them, and he was too far back to be able to see any more details. _

_ It just served to raise his curiosity as he followed. Not only was there a large amount of unfamiliar foreigners, but they were taking Hanzo somewhere late at night. Not just somewhere, they were taking him to the large dojo within Shimada Castle.  _

_ Realizing where they were taking Hanzo, Genji quickly scurried away to his favorite place to sneak into the dojo. For years, he had been using the small, almost forgotten passage in order to sneak in and watch Hanzo train.  _

_ Genji arrived to the second floor of the dojo as Hanzo’s group walked in through the main entrance. He hung back in the shadows, nervously running his fingers along the edge of his nightgown, wondering what was about to happen. _

_ A shackled, blonde foreigner was thrown into the center of the dojo. His blue eyes were wide with panic as he looked around the room and Genji felt pity well in his chest. _

_ “ _ Shift _ ,” the order was barked out by the American woman from earlier.  _

_ “I can't,” the man whimpered. “Take off the shackles.” _

_ Genji flinched as he heard the noise of the man getting backhanded. “Shift,” the woman ordered again.  _

_ The blonde man convulsed on the floor and Genji’s eyes flit around the room, waiting for somebody to assist him. He was one moment away from stepping in himself when the man began moaning in pain. The only thing that stopped him was when he saw the man’s bones begin to contort and fur began sprouting from his skin. _

_ Genji breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the shackles around the man’s neck snap off. But worryingly, the ones around his wrists seemed to be holding tight. _

_ The man screamed in pain as he continued to transform, clawing at the ground as his face shifted from something human to something much more canine. _

_ Genji’s eyes widened as he finally understood what the American woman had meant by wolf. Not an actual wolf, some type of shifter. A werewolf? Genji wasn't very familiar with them, only seeing them in some of the western media he consumed, but there was no other answer as the man in front of him turned into a golden wolf. _

_ One of the wrist shackles snapped off as his arm began bulking up, but the audible  _ snap _ that quickly followed it was definitely not of metal snapping.  _

_ Genji couldn't handle more of it before he backed out. His eyes were wide in horror as he listened to the man’s agonized screams and howls. Nobody was coming to help him. Not even Hanzo who was watching in cool, detached interest. Genji felt like he was going to be ill, the sound of the werewolf’s wrist snapping playing over and over again in his head. The screams that turned to howls of pain.  _

“How?” Hanzo asked quietly.

Genji blinked back his memory, the horror of what he had seen still sat heavy in his gut, twenty five years later. “The werewolf,” he said. “When he had snapped his wrists in shackles and no one came to help.”

Hanzo exhaled loudly through his nose as he leaned his head back against the wall, eyes firmly pressed shut. “After I had completed my… task assigned by the elders,” he said after a moment of silence. “Akande tried to comfort me, to let me know what I had done was the right thing.” A shaky sigh left his mouth, “I couldn't go anywhere without seeing blood, my hands felt sticky in it. I didn't feel human any longer, I felt like a monster. Like the werewolf, forced to change, to follow orders even if they would kill me. So I just left one night while Akande was busy with work.”

“Hanzo,” Genji said quietly.

Hanzo continued, “There was a laundry list of supernaturals who owed the Shimada family one thing or another. So I summoned a demon and forced him to change me. To make me the monster on the outside that I was on the inside. I thought that if I could live life as a demon, then I wouldn't feel the guilt of what I had done. I was wrong, Genji.”

Genji swallowed hard as Hanzo laid himself bare in front of him. It was the most honest Hanzo had been with him in years, perhaps since they were children. “I left everything I had ever known, gave it up because of what I had done. And McCree is right, I still haven't done enough to change, to fix my mistakes. But I don't know  _ how _ , Genji.”

“I don't have an answer for you, brother,” Genji said softly. “I found my peace in the monasteries of Nepal. It was there that I left my anger behind. I learned to forgive you, and you need to learn to forgive yourself.”

“I don't know how,” Hanzo repeated quietly. “Your blood still stains my hands. Everything I had done to be the perfect heir still rests heavily on my shoulders. McCree is right to hate me.”

“Jesse is extreme in his feelings,” Genji said slowly. “I don't believe he’s right to hate you. I don't even think  _ he  _ thinks it’s right to hate you. But he’s a man who lives on one side or the other. He sees everything in black and white. You’re either good, or you’re bad.” Genji stared down at his faceplate as he mulled over his words. “He’s angry on my behalf, and I think he sees too much of how he used to be in you. I didn't know him in the early days, but I know that he used to be very similar to you.”

“When he was a teenager, and I’m verging on forty,” Hanzo said. “Am I too old to change, Genji?”

“The fact that you are here with me today, Hanzo, shows that you’re changing.”

“But is it enough?” Hanzo asked quietly.

“That’s not a question for me,” Genji replied. “You must walk your own path to redemption. To find your own way to wash the blood from your hands.”

Genji watched Hanzo’s throat bob as he swallowed hard, “What I’m doing with Blackwatch will be that redemption,” Hanzo said firmly. “But what will I do when I see Akande again? Genji, I still love him. I still wish every day that he and I had gotten a chance to live together and love each other without politics. Without orders.”

“I do not know, Hanzo. But Akande is a danger to this world. To people like you.”

“I understand,” Hanzo said quietly. “I will do what I must.”

“You always have,” Genji said as he stared at Hanzo, knowing that he would be forced to kill another man that he loved. “That’s what worries me.”

**Author's Note:**

> "I'm gonna work on an ABO mcr76 fic" - me, a liar  
> been thinking abt doomzo and how to lead into the doomfist fic, so here's this that gives some background on both Genji and Hanzo. Will be doing a couple more of these shorter fics with various other characters to give some more background on the events leading up to the doomfist fic lol  
> \---  
> follow me on social media @smalls2233


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